In the fruit and nut growing industries, it is desirable to harvest crops mechanically to minimize crop damage and increase efficiency, thus lowering costs and increasing profits to the grower. One mechanical harvesting device that has been used successfully for harvesting certain varieties of fruits and nuts, hereinafter referred to simply as produce, is the tree shaker. Typically, tree shaker-type harvesters include a means for applying a shaking force to a tree. The shaking force causes the produce to drop from the tree onto the ground, where it is then gathered and placed into bins. A disadvantage of this method of harvesting produce is that the produce must fall a substantial distance, and may be bruised or otherwise damaged in the process. A further disadvantage of this method of harvesting produce is the need for manually gathering the produce after it has fallen, and placing it on a conveyor or in a bin.
Attempts have been made to solve the problem described above by providing a device for catching the produce as it falls. However, all of the devices known to date are complex and costly to build, operate and maintain. It would be useful, therefore, to have a device for catching produce as it falls from a tree, which is inexpensive to build, operate and maintain.